State Senate Should Support Firearms Microstamping

A Newsday editorial backs my firearm microstamping bill, which gives law enforcement a new tool to solve crimes:

Albany should do what it can to get armed criminals off the streets. That should go without saying. But even worthy proposals, like microstamping firearms, have a way of stalling in the State Legislature. The Assembly passed a bill two weeks ago to require that manufacturers stamp identifying marks on the firing pins of semiautomatic handguns delivered to licensed gun dealers in . The Senate, where the bill's fate is uncertain, should pass it, too.

Microstamping would help police trace guns used in crimes. The firing pins would leave marks on the shell casings, which are often left behind at crime scenes. With that, police could track down the gun's last legal owner, the store where it was legally sold and, with luck, find a lead to the perpetrator of the crime.